Future Stories
Future Stories concept is all about urban culture built around sustainable development themes. Espoo’s Cultural Venues and Services create the content together with residents and partners.Future Stories Art Mobs 2026
The Future Stories Art Mobs will be carried out for the second time to bring colour and life to the urban spaces of Espoo using the means of art and culture. The Art Mobs are light, free and transient artistic experiences that spread across urban spaces and public places. They are intended for everyone and invite reflection on society and the world. The Art Mobs may take various forms, such as a concert of a busker performing their original compositions at a metro station, a poetry reciter on a park bench, live art by a performance artist at a bus stop or an artist creating croquis drawings at a shopping centre. The theme for the 2026 Art Mobs is building peace and hope. The emphasis of this year’s selections will be on unexpected elements and the use of public urban spaces. The art mobs will be showcased in the urban spaces and public places in August 2026.
The 2026 art mob performers have now been selected:
• Vieraslaji ("Alien Species") – Other Nature art series(external link, opens in a new window)
• Penkki ("Bench") – TeatteriQo(external link, opens in a new window)
• Teetä ja biisejä ("Tea and Tunes") – Katri O(external link, opens in a new window)
• Toivo asuu täällä ("Hope Lives Here") – Sananhaltija (external link, opens in a new window)(Annamari Typpö)
• Spa Lounge – Nuppuensemble(external link, opens in a new window)
• Lähettiläs ("The Messenger") – Viestejä toivosta ja rauhasta – Mammu Rauhala(external link, opens in a new window)
• Madame T: Pelissä elämä ("Madame T: Life in the Game) – Outi Järvinen
• Radicalis 1.0 – Noora Juppi(external link, opens in a new window)
• Vastavoima ("Counterforce") – Kollektiivi Säie(external link, opens in a new window)
• Seuraava pysäkki: Tulevaisuus ("Next Stop: The Future") – Saara Malmström(external link, opens in a new window)
• Rauhanliikekannallepano ("Mobilization for the Peace Movement") – Toisissa tiloissa -kollektiivi(external link, opens in a new window)
• Just Stop – React Public Performances(external link, opens in a new window)
• Fillaripianisti ("Cycling Pianist") – Fillaripiano(ulkoinen linkki, avautuu uuteen ikkunaan)(external link, opens in a new window) (Aarno Paakkari)
Application Guidelines
Previous Future Stories
Future Stories took place for the first time in summer 2023 as an environmental artwork located in Espoonlahti. Love Letters to Nature, a collection of five environmental art pieces by the art collective SISU, was inspired by the love letters written by the city’s residents to nature. In 2024, a mural was painted on the Kivenlahti underpass. The piece was created by the art collective Mimmit peinttaa in collaboration with local residents. The purpose of the mural was to make the area more inviting and to prevent intentional vandalism of the tunnel.
